Motivated by the current (2011) political climate in Wisconsin it seems reasonable to devote some time and effort to comment on issues and some of the hyperbole. So we in the public should do what we can to help focus "journalists" on delineating real facts versus spin. If you accept the spin you do not understand the policy implications.

A bill with the potential to hobble government agencies' ability to propose regulations, known as the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act, has passed in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature and Republican Governor Scott Walker's office has told DeSmog he intends to sign it into law.

Wisconsin's version mandates that if a proposed regulation causes “$10 million or more in implementation and compliance costs” over a two year period, that rule must either be rewritten or go by the wayside. Known as Senate Bill 15, the Wisconsin bill passed the state Senate on a party-line vote, 62-34 and would be the first state-level REINS bill on the books in the country.

The House passed two laws that would profoundly change how federal rules are issued—and that hardly any non-lawyer knows about.

THEATLANTIC.COM|BY PETER M. SHANE

Paul Ryan reminds me of the demolition experts that claimed they could blow up the first floor without damaging the building and then were shocked when the building collapsed. "OH! Look ACA, etc., is failing!" Wonder why!

Trickle down Brownback, what Trump and what Ryan would do if they could!

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's first executive order targets the sweeping "Obamacare" law by giving federal agencies broad leeway to chip away at the measure. But Trump still needs Congress to do away with the law for good.Trump signed the executive order in the Oval Office Friday, hours after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

The one-page directive gives agencies authority to grant waivers, exemptions and delays of provisions in the Affordable Care Act. But until it becomes clear what steps federal agencies take as a result, its full impact on Americans and their health insurance is uncertain.

There are other important signals in the short executive order. It says HHS should “encourage the development of a free and open market in interstate commerce” and “provide greater flexibility to States,” suggesting that Trump will push HHS to grant more flexibility to states in how they implement the law.

It was no secret before Trump signed the executive order that he wanted the Affordable Care Act repealed, and all of these changes were possible before it was signed. But now Trump has made his intentions clear, with one of his first acts as president: The Department of Health and Human Services, “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” should get to dismantling.

The strategy seems to be to destroy the "healthcare marketplace" ... how ironic for the GOP ... so much for their core values.

... The changes could result in sharply higher premiums and less coverage for many. For example, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has said he wants to water down regulations requiring insurers to offer comprehensive coverage in 10 areas, including maternity care, prescription drugs and mental health services.

Consumers already are worried they could be priced out of the market. In a recent nationally representative CR Consumer Voices Survey, 55 percent said they’re not sure they or their loved ones could afford insurance to get quality healthcare. ...

...The mandate requires most people to buy insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS ($695 per adult and $347.50 per child under 18 but no more than 2.5 percent of your gross income). In February, the IRS followed Trump’s order when it announced it would no longer automatically reject the tax return of someone who didn’t check the box confirming health coverage or fill out the form to pay a penalty. People who don’t have insurance still owe the penalty— but the IRS isn’t going to hold up your return if you don’t provide the information.

Another executive action took aim at the ACA’s most recent open-enrollment period. Just five days before the January 31 signup deadline, the Trump administration directed Health and Human Services tohalt TV adsencouraging people to sign up and ended other outreach efforts. ...

#TrumpCare #RyanCare Still Plan to Gut #ACA #Medicaid #Medicare (WI 1848 Forward) and blame it on #Obama - no replacement in sight

Sunday, January 8, 2017

This same story was published on the Opinion Page of the Wisconsin State Journal this Sunday January 8th, 2017.

It has all the gimmicks -- #DogWhistlePolitics --

Vague attempt at misdirection ... - Who? Me? We are too, for air and water!

Claim air and water is cleaner? [Proof?]

"Politics of Resentment" -- those folks in Madison -- those special interest lobbyists. Last time around the GOP became ever more present even though more Democrats voted ... but maybe they mean the scientists or researchers -- not vote gerrymandering and suppression.

Calling names themselves ... taking on the environmental left? Who is this "left" ?

Just don't want us to have jobs.

100 jobs in small town, fracing sand, paper mill, mining -- I think towns and villages were stripped of regulating authority ... so much for local control! Boom and bust jobs are just not desirable in the end with cleanup expenses..

"We both relish a good fight" ... we are "masculine men" ?

They eviscerated the DNR -- you might even say gagged them ... their website is now a joke.

Better policies would support local schools and the many university campuses; state money for local, county and state roads; small town infrastructure - water systems, web, libraries, state monies for healthcare. These kind of policies would create sustainable local jobs, bring in the tourists, actually cause people to want to raise a family and stay to get their kids educated.

Have you ever met someone who wants to destroy air and water? We haven’t. Nevertheless, despite air and water quality getting better in Wisconsin, this is the attack consistently leveled against us. We even managed to make a special interest group's "dishonor roll" and have been labeled environmental lightning rods. Why? Because we have the audacity to take on the environmental left. Perhaps it’s easier to engage in personal attacks than actually debate the issue at hand.We both relish a good fight, but that's actually not why we engage in crafting environmental policy. Deep down, the reason we get involved in these fights is because they are incredibly important to the people we represent in rural and northern Wisconsin. While we have an abundance of natural resources, job opportunities can be very limited. Smart policies can have a dramatic impact on economic growth and job opportunities in northern Wisconsin. Why? It's a matter of scale. Imagine if a new business opened in a suburban Milwaukee community and it provided 100 middle class jobs (loaded wage rates of $30 per hour). This would be great, but it would barely be a drop in the bucket in a vast urban metropolis. On the other hand, where we live, many communities have less than 1,000 people. Imagine if a paper mill or frac sand facility employing 100 people at that same wage rate opened in that community. It'd be huge!Just one good business can be the lifeblood of an entire community. It’s not just the direct jobs, but it's the indirect jobs – truckers, electricians, plumbers, contractors, restaurant, and gas station owners, bankers, car dealers, realtors. Again, it's a matter of scale.The reality is that our rural communities live or die with decisions suburban legislators make in Madison. An ill-suited, overly-restrictive rule can literally ruin a community. That's why we are so stridently opposed to Madison and Washington rules and regulations that kill job opportunities in farming, manufacturing, forestry, and tourism.If you live downstate or in a more urban or suburban community, you may think these issues don't impact you. They do. If people in northern Wisconsin can't find family-sustaining jobs, they will be more dependent on government programs (which your tax dollars will fund) and there will also be a deficiency in our tax base, meaning you will also fund our schools. So, yes, the northern Wisconsin economy matters to you, even if you don't live there.This session, we will continue to press for legislation that runs afoul of the dogmatic beliefs held by many so-called environmentalists. We intend to further streamline some rules and regulations and repeal those that don't make sense. It's a matter of life and death for our communities. When the attacks come from the self-proclaimed environmentalists, we hope our friends and neighbors across the rest of the state will stand with us, because it matters to you too.

The final chapter of the Obama economy drew that much closer to its end on Friday, with the final jobs report of the 44th president's time in office. That report showed the 75th straight month of job growth, with employers adding 156,000 jobs.

Let's see what happens. Trump is, at least, not starting with a major recession.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

September 2017

Boards. When a policy making politician (Walker) serves a longtime they end up appointing all the members. This is all well and good so long as the public really is involved in electing that politician. If you bias the process by voter suppression (intimidation, id requirements, moving polling places, changing registration requirements, making registration expensive)) or vote gerrymandering it is an insidious corruption ... pure and simple.

SCOTUS is like a board and it's current makeup a little bit questionable. Let's hope they can change the vote manipulation process and determine a way to prevent all these forms of corruption. Validating "efficiency gap" would at least be a start.

The city has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Wisconsin Department of Transportation over its plans to consolidate two West Side DMV locations at a new site at 8417 Excelsior Drive later this month.

The city and other critics say the location disadvantages low-income, minority and disabled people who more frequently rely on public transit. The site is directly accessible by only one Metro Transit route, the city complaint says, and that route doesn’t serve the area between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

January 2017 -

Judges have ordered new maps for Wisconsin ... before 2018 election ... unfortunately they told the legislature to do it ... more of the same again?????

The AP scrutinized the outcomes of all 435 U.S. House races and about 4,700 state House and Assembly seats up for election last year using a new statistical method of calculating partisan advantage. It’s designed to detect cases in which one party may have won, widened or retained its grip on power through political gerrymandering.

The analysis found four times as many states with Republican-skewed state House or Assembly districts than Democratic ones. Among the two dozen most populated states that determine the vast majority of Congress, there were nearly three times as many with Republican-tilted U.S. House districts.

Traditional battlegrounds such as Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and Virginia were among those with significant Republican advantages in their U.S. or state House races. All had districts drawn by Republicans after the last Census in 2010.

The following direct twitter message was sent to me 9/28/2017 ... I'm not sure which of my posts it related to because I have quite a few where the phrase "voter suppression" is used. There may be a more appropriate place to include this information. If you disagree with me or this individual do not harass us but do present your facts.